*Trips*
*Bam*
Harue faceplanted as he tripped on his own feet. Well, Harue wanted to deviate the reason from his sister to someone else.
But why did it come to this?
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Ike bend down and lent an extended hand for Harue to get up. Harue grabbed his aid and got up slowly.
"I am okay."
"Really?"
"Yes yes."
Harue patted his school uniform and fixed any dishevelled part.
"Seriously, you should watch where you were going."
"I made a small blunder, forgive me." Harue wryly smiled as he continued to their destination.
However, Ike had another idea that was cooking in his mind. He wanted to confirm it no matter what. So he inquired again and used Harue's fall this time.
"Did you fall because what I said was true?"
"O-Of course not."
Ike was now fully sure that Harue has someone that he likes. What was left to do now was reveal who is that someone special to him.
"So, who is the one you like?"
"I told you that I don't have someone like that."
".....That's not like you."
Ike noticed the odd behaviour of Harue when he brought up the subject of love. He was a bit more in an unusual frenzy.
That's why Ike moved forward with the intent of getting his answers.
"You are not being honest. Is she in the same year as us?"
"I am not answering that."
Harue started power walking through the corridor. Ike though, was able to keep up with his pace and endlessly bombarded Harue with questions.
"Is she younger than us?"
"I don't know."
"Is she in any club?"
"I don't know."
"Is she shorter or taller than you?"
"I told you I don't know."
"Is it even a girl?"
"Yes, it is!"
Harue stopped in his tracks and realized what he just blurted out. He slipped up and covered his mouth instinctively. Ike raised the corner of his lips and confronted Harue with an endearing smile.
"So you admit that you have someone like..."
".....J...Just forget what I said."
To hide his embarrassed expression, Harue turned and resumed walking faster to his destination.
"Harue-kun. Who is it? Someone I know?"
"Geez, I don't know anything!"
'How cute.'
His outburst came out so loud but blended in with the squeaky voice of a young girl.
And that made the credibility of Ike's speculations increase drastically. Harue's loud denial had the opposite effect on Ike as he was more determined to find out the identity of the lucky one.
Ike slid next to him effortlessly and kept with his pace.
"Hey, Harue-kun, is she a girl of our school?"
"I don't know."
"Do I know her?"
"Heck if I k-know!"
"Please tell me, Harue-kun!"
"You are persistent!"
All types of questions were thrown out, only to be evaded by Harue. It was commendable for him to be able to keep his mouth shut around Ike.
From the outside, Ike seems to be a quiet person but if he is close to someone, then he will adopt his more talkative side.
This continued till they reached in front of the auditorium's door.
Harue's shield did not break but Ike's attacks were relentless. He knew that if anyone in the drama club were to hear what Ike was talking about, then chaos would come forth.
So he put forward a proposition.
"Listen Ike-kun. You must not talk to me about this in the drama club. If anyone knew then it would be a disaster."
"....."
Ike stopped asking any questions and was contemplating his suggestion. Harue waited for his answer with a worried face.
What was it going to be?
The rest of Harue's third-year journey will depend on Ike's response. Harue gulped with anticipation and it seemed that Ike concluded.
But instead of an answer, Ike replied with another simple but fatal question.
"Is she in our club?"
"Did you even listen to what I said?"
"That's why I am telling. Why are you saying to not disclose that matter amongst the club members? Is she one of them and you don't want to let her know?"
He hit the mark perfectly. Harue was extremely surprised about Ike's suspicion.
No, it was more like a confirmation for him.
If Harue agreed to Ike, then it would be much easier for him to deduce who was Harue's crush. He can narrow it down to the girls in the Drama Club.
Harue stayed unperturbed on the outside and diverted Ike's prediction elsewhere.
"It is because I do not have to deal with people like you, pestering me from time to time."
Ike seemed upset about but he could feel some sympathy for him. He could not imagine the hell he would experience in this club. So, he agreed.
"I got it."
"...*Sigh*.....Thank you, Ike-kun."
With that, Ike opened the door to the auditorium.
Harue and Ike entered and greeted anyone who they haven't in the morning or during lunchtime.
The Drama Club advanced in a sort of a preliminary competition which eliminated a large number of high schools that were participating.
The regional tournament was no joke as it wasted no time in selecting only the good performance.
The scale of 'good' is pretty high considering how strict the judges were in this tournament.
If they said that a performance has the potential to improve, then it is considered to be very great. If it is a definite 'yes' from them, then it is set that they would reach the finals if they keep their act up.
It is difficult to impress the judges so all the high school drama clubs have a lot to do.
Practice makes perfect and in this context, perfect is the only way to achieve success in this competition.
That is why Paro, the President of the Drama Club, had uncertainties about Rina but Harue resolved it.
She was willing to gamble the lack of members and choose only the quality of the members. That was a bold tactic but in the end, it wasn't worth it.
Thanks to Harue, she avoided such a horrendous mistake.
It was all good in the end, well, not all of them.
"Alright, everyone! Gather up on me!"
Paro commanded with a loud voice.
The acting members, the lighting crew and the other non-acting members assembled around Paro. It is the usual theme now when Paro has to say something important.
She addressed to all of them about the agenda for the next round of the tournament.
"First of all, I am grateful that all of you worked hard to get past the first round."
She started clapping alone. Only her sound resounded but then, one by one joined and finally, all of them clapped together.
"Come on!"
"Yeah!"
"Thank you too, President!"
Cheers came from within the crown and it promoted good spirit amongst the club members. After a few seconds, the claps died down as Paro waited for complete silence.
In the end, everyone kept quiet. With that,
"We passed the first round but we
cannot afford to take it easy. It is just the first step to the top."
They can see the ambition in the voice of the President. She was aiming for first place and it was only natural that anyone participating would want to be at the top.
A thorny road awaits them.
"For our next act, we are going to be doing a high school drama and romance. The setting is in a school so Harue-kun, you do not have to do anything major for our costumes."
She glanced at Harue when she mentioned him.
"I understand."
"I am going to have you act in this performance."
"Hah?"
"Don't worry, it is just a role of a bystander. It is only for a minute."
"Hmm. Then it is okay."
The first years and second years members were a bit astonished that Harue was given a role.
They did not know that Harue could act. Whispers were circulating amongst the freshmen and sophomores but not between the third years.
It means that only the seniors did not doubt Harue's acting skills.
"I did not know Harue-senpai could act." The first-year boy, Fujita talked with his scary senpai, Daisuke.
"I did not know too."
"Huh? I thought you had some idea about it."
Fujita and Daisuke got along over the time during club activities. Fujita overcame the moments that Daisuke was scary because of his facial features.
He knew that Daisuke was actually a really kind person but he could not get over his fearful appearance. But now that he did, they were pretty close.
Harue heard all the mumble happening but he ignored them.
Paro also heard but she moved on with another matter in hand
"I will talk with each individual of the acting members with their role. But for now..."
She grinned from ear to ear and yelled at her top of her lungs while pointing her finger towards the ceiling of the auditorium.
"What are we going to be!!?"
The crown lifted their right hands in unison and screamed in response.
"'""Number one!!!!""""
The ritual that embraces the enthusiasm and determination of the club members all came together, brimming them with ambition.
In the centre of it all was the President of the Drama Club, Paro, who will guide them to the end of their path.
...
"Chiziwa-senpai."
"Yes? What is it, Kagome-senpai."
Paro veered to see Kagome, who was in a bad mood. It was blatant as she showed her discontent through her facial expression.
"Can we talk in private?"
She already guessed what the problem was so with confidence, Paro agreed and followed Kagome.
They went to the corner of the room, more specifically, it was a spot at the top row for the seats. It was the farthest away from the main stage where they practised acting.
Harue was watching those as they went further up the stairs. Eyes full of contempt was following them. but suddenly Harue grabbed by the shoulders.
"Harue-senpai!"
Immediately, he realized whose it was and changed his demeanour.
"What is it, Yu-!?"
Yuna, as expected from her voice, Harue concluded it was her. But what was unexpected was that her face was very close to Harue.
Which took Harue by surprise.
"Since when can you act?"
"H-Huh? I-I mean...since way before....."
"Then why didn't you do acting?"
"I-It's because i...did not want to....Can you stay away a bit, please? You are too close."
"A-Ah, I'm sorry!"
Yuna was too unaware of her distance because she was interested in Harue's acting skills.
Harue now was able to talk normally since she was not that close to her face. He thought that he avoided a heart attack there.
He returned to his usual attitude and casually chatted.
Now that he noticed, there were others who wanted to know about how Harue is good at acting.
Moreover, he did not take part in it because he did not want to?
"I find it difficult to believe that." Daisuke entered between Yuna's and Harue's conversation.
"Believe what?" Harue inquired.
"That you do not want to act because you do not want to."
"Well, I think I am more suitable in making costumes than performing in front of an audience."
They haven't seen Harue before so it was undetermined if he is any decent or not. Additionally, they cannot force him to permanently do acting.
Seita, who was beside them, raised a good question.
"Then why did you accept Paro-senpai's request to play in this performance?"
"Ah, that is because, as she said before, it is not a major role. It is not even on the level of a minor role. It requires less acting."
"Oh..."
Everyone understood his intentions and could not think of anything else.
"Well, I would love to see you go up on stage and act."
Hishimi was the one who barged into their group as he grabbed Harue by the shoulder.
"Well, you may see it for a small period of time."
"I meant always."
"Unfortunately, I don't want to."
"Come on, do it."
"No."
Hishimi continuously pestered him on that subject but like with Ike, Harue kept his shield up and refused her request no matter what.
After some time, she gave up because of his tenacity and went on with her business.
Everyone else went on with their practice after they left Harue. He was tired of their questioning and anticipation but it all ended with the result he wanted.
He sat down in one of the seats and sighed exasperatingly.
"That Paro-san,...*Sigh*...Can't she let me off the hook?"
No one heard but himself as he murmured with annoyance.
Just a few seconds later, Harue felt a presence on the seat next to him. He darted his look and noticed it was Ike with a serious expression.
'Not him again.'
Ike leaned near Harue and tried to whisper something in his ear.
"Harue-kun, don't tell me..."
".....What?"
"....that the one you like is Yuna-san?"